External rear view mirrors (wing mirrors) fitted to modern vehicles often form the widest part of the vehicle. The heads of these mirrors are usually designed to rotate about a substantially vertical pivot axis in both a forwards and a backwards direction. Such a mirror assembly is shown in FIG. 1.
Generally a detent mechanism is provided to hold the mirror head in its operable or deployed position. The detent mechanism holds the mirror head in a fixed relationship to the mirror bracket during normal operating use. Should the mirror head impact on an object, the detent mechanism allows the mirror head to “break away” to fold towards the vehicle.
Various detent mechanisms are known including the detent mechanism described within the applicant's issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,594 (Rothe).
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle external rear view mirror assembly with a detent mechanism.